Henry shares his "chef" approach to player development, emphasizing process, mental well-being, and leaning on his wife, a clinical psychologist, for guidance.
Replacing defensive backs coach Mike Mickens was not going to be an easy task for head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Mickens brought leadership and a strong developmental presence on and off the field and was tasked with not only making Notre Dame's secondary into great football players, but was also tasked with developing them into great men. Earlier this week, new defensive backs coach Aaron Henry talked about his coaching philosophy and what brought him to Notre Dame and it was impressive.
"Are we trying to be a chef, or are we trying to be on the Easy-Bake Oven and make something really, really fast in a microwave?" Henry asked jokingly. " I use that analogy because people see the end result of Devon Witherspoon. They don't know what happened two years prior to that. They don't understand the process, making sure he gained weight so he can finish the season and him being 155 pounds."
"It's a process to help develop in these players, not just from an athletic standpoint," Henry continued. "You can have all the athleticism in the world, but let’s not lose sight of mental health. If you don't have the guidance here, and enough people around you to help you here, I don't care how talented you are."
It's easy to walk into a room that has Leonard Moore, Christian Gray, Adon Shuler, Tae Johnson and a host of other highly talented players and just look at them as football players. But what set Mickens apart was the care and value he put into them as young men. It sounds like Henry echoes that same sentiment, and he leans on a pretty strong influence at home to help him navigate those waters.
"My secret weapon to developing football players is my wife," Henry stated. "You laugh, but I'm serious because my wife is a clinical psychologist. We don't call her Mrs. Henry; we call her Dr. Henry at home. I've been able to talk to her about situations and scenarios, and she'll give me a plan. I have the guys over to my house, and she'll sit down with them for five minutes or have a two-minute conversation and pull me aside and say, ‘Hey, you need to make sure he has this."
Similar to us here at Irish Breakdown, Henry was full of the food analogies when asked about his coaching philosophy. Everything is about the process; you hear the phrase 'trust the process' all the time in sports, but sometimes it's just that. It's a marathon and not a sprint to greatness. Whatever cliche you want to throw in there is applicable to achieving greatness at the collegiate level.
"Guys come in and they want the microwave results," Henry explained. "Sometimes you want cold food in a microwave, and it's easy to heat up. It's very, very fast. But over the long haul, it's not really beneficial for you. There are ingredients you've got to add to this specific meal that's gonna be a lot healthier for you and that's gonna be a lot more beneficial for you down the road, and it's going to take some time to cook."
After sitting down and weighing all the options, the opportunity to come to Notre Dame became abundantly clear for the former Illinois defensive coordinator. He had the opportunity to reunite with Ash, work with Freeman and coach the most talented secondary in the country.
"We all understand the history at Notre Dame, but the most intriguing thing, for me, I'm always talking about growth and development in my career just as a coach. I had a conversation with my wife; we felt like it was something that was beneficial for us as a family and my career path. Then I talked to Marcus Freeman. I had already obviously knew Chris Ash, but you talk to Marcus Freeman, and it's like, okay, wow. I could see why this dude has had a lot of success at the age he's at, as a play-caller as a head coach. That kind of sealed the deal."
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!